Bush Touts Alliances on Trip to Iraq and Afghanistan

President George W. Bush made surprise visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to boost support for his responses to the 2001 terrorist attacks and solidify his foreign-policy legacy.

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President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad on Sunday celebrated the approval of a security agreement that establishes the basis for a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq.
Reuters

In Iraq, the president highlighted a new security agreement intended to cement recent security gains and form the basis for a long-term alliance. Later, as he headed to Afghanistan, Mr. Bush said the U.S. was putting policies in place there similar to the ones that brought improvements in Iraq, including a troop surge, in response to recent deterioration in military and political conditions.

"It's the same mission we had before [in Iraq], to have the young democracy develop the institutions so it can survive on its own...and to deny a safe haven for al Qaeda," Mr. Bush said in a roundtable interview on the way to Afghanistan from Iraq.

On arrival at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Mr. Bush spoke to more than a thousand U.S. soldiers and Marines at a hangar on the tarmac. "Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago," the president said. "We are making hopeful gains." Mr. Bush also was set to meet on Monday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

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Underscoring the potential long-term significance of the U.S. commitment in Iraq, the commander of U.S. forces there -- echoing recent statements by U.S. and Iraqi officials -- suggested the timelines for troop withdrawals in the security agreement could be modified by the two sides. The agreement, approved by Iraq's parliament in November, outlines a U.S. withdrawal from urban areas by summer and a full withdrawal by 2011. There are about 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Mr. Bush, on his fourth and almost certainly final visit to the country, met on Sunday with Iraqi leaders and praised efforts to establish a democratic government there. "The war is not yet over," Mr. Bush said, following a meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, but "it is decisively on its way to being won."

Iraq is likely to play a big role in defining Mr. Bush's legacy. Despite the war's unpopularity, he says he hopes Iraq can serve as an example of a moderate, democratic and prosperous country for the rest of the Mideast, as well as provide a bulwark against extremism.

The war, which began with a U.S.-led invasion in 2003, has come at a high cost in lives and in financial terms. It has also left U.S. efforts in Afghanistan short of troops and other resources.

In a sign of the hostility the U.S. presence continues to generate in the region, a local journalist threw his shoes at Mr. Bush -- a gesture of contempt in Iraqi culture -- during a news conference with Mr. Maliki. The man was quickly overpowered by security agents. When the conference resumed, Mr. Bush, who ducked the projectiles, noted that other Iraqi journalists in the room had apologized.

Man Throws Shoes at Bush

A television correspondent tossed two shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad Sunday.

The security agreement, covering military relations and broader cooperation, replaces a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions as the legal basis for foreign troops' presence in Iraq. Comments by Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander in charge of U.S. troops in Iraq, suggested the pact leaves some matters to interpretation and could open the door to broader roles for U.S. forces in Iraq. That could complicate decision making for the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who has pushed for a clear timetable for withdrawal.

Mr. Bush expressed optimism that Mr. Obama shares his commitment to achieving U.S. goals in Iraq. "I believe he understands the strategic importance of Iraq, and now he's got a framework from which to make decisions."

Gen. Odierno said Saturday that U.S. forces will remain indefinitely in dozens of small bases in Iraq's cities, despite language in the pact that appeared to require a withdrawal by next summer. He said the provision applied only to combat personnel. U.S. commanders classify the urban counterinsurgency forces that mentor and fight alongside Iraqi troops as training personnel, he said.

The commander said he was operating under the assumption all American forces would leave Iraq by December 2011 as called for by the agreement. But he said U.S. commanders were talking to their Iraqi counterparts about the possibility of leaving combat personnel in Mosul beyond next summer. He said the Iraqi government will make the final decision.

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